Reclassifying Brain Tumors with Precision

Winship's Dan Brat is the lead author of a groundbreaking study that will change the way brain tumor patients are diagnosed.

Winship cancer researcher and neuropathologist Dan Brat is the first author of a groundbreaking study that will change the way patients with diffuse gliomas, a form of brain tumor, will be diagnosed and treated in the future.

Brat and 306 other researchers from 44 institutions studied a group of six related brain tumors that has been surrounded by diagnostic confusion for decades. They used a large number of advanced molecular platforms capable of examining the genetic make-up of brain tumors (e.g. mutations, gene deletions, and other genetic changes) and were able to determine that there are three well-defined types of tumors based on this analysis, rather than six as previously thought.

Brat explains, "The use of the biomarkers in the diagnosis of these forms of brain tumors will lead to a much more consistent manner of diagnosis and patient management. It will also allow us to investigate these tumors as unified groups in a way that should advance our understanding."

Brat will join an international group of neuropathologists in Heidelberg, Germany, meeting this summer to revise the World Health Organization classification of brain tumors based on new molecular findings. This is a major step in starting to classify and treat brain tumors more precisely based on their genetic makeup.

Why are some individuals more likely to develop cancer or to develop a more aggressive form of cancer? Why do some people not get the care they need, when they need it? Winship clinicians and researchers confront such disparities daily - and are working to understand and change them.